Analysis of a corrosion under insulation failure in a carbon steel refinery hydrocarbon line

摘要

An explosion and fire occurred at a refinery site leading to the evacuation of the site and to millions of pounds worth of damage to the facility. A laboratory investigation was carried out to establish the immediate cause and any underlying factors that may have contributed to the incident.Failure of a section of insulated process pipework had occurred part way up a process column, Fig. 1. The pipe had failed on an approximately horizontal section, close to the bottom dead centre, Fig. 2a and b. Close to the failure, a walkway support bracket had been installed, Fig. 2c, in a position that suggested that interference between the bracket and the lagging/cladding system had occurred. The relative position of the bracket and the failure are shown in Fig. 2c and d.